Academic Success

Barrenjoey’s Trend

Barrenjoey continues to promote our vision of providing a school experience where Respect, Effort and Challenge is highly valued. Here, students respect the subjects they study, the content, teachers, environment and themselves, where effort is expected, valued, recognised and celebrated and where students see the worth in challenging themselves to ‘be the best they can be’.

The graph, summarising the Higher School Certificate (HSC) results from the past fourteen years, 2002-2015 is evidence of our continual progress. Barrenjoey continues to improve across the higher Band Results indicative of our sustained cultural change.

The most pleasing fact is the obvious migration from lower to higher grades (Bands 4/5 to Bands 5/6) over the past thirteen years. Band 6 results have more than doubled, from 3.7% to 8.2% during this timeframe, and Band 5 results have increased from 24% to 31% over the same period.

The final columns on the right hand side of this graph displays the trend in the ‘Upper 3’ HSC band results since 2002. The last five years have seen HSC candidiates at Barrenjoey High School attain an average of 73% of all results in the Top three bands, as compared to 61% between 2002-2005, (In 2015 the state average was 67%). The yellow line shows the state averages and clearly indicates the progressive Barrenjoey growth above this line for Bands 5 and 4, as well as the upper three bands.

The second graph tracks the HSC Grade distribution for the past five years, 2011 – 2015. When viewed together it’s terrific to see the obvious increase in Band 5 results and decrease in bands 3 and 2. 37.7% Band 5 results and 77.7% results in the upper three bands are the best we have received in at least the last fourteen years.

Further proof of our march forward were the 65 students’ results from the 2015 HSC cohort that were only one or two marks away from achieving an even higher grade. This fact has been highly promoted and, alongside student effort, Learning Plans, improved study, literacy development and tutoring opportunities, will help guide future students to the realisation that they all have both the opportunity and the capacity to succeed.

When considering a school’s academic results, people often hear exclusively about Year 12 HSC results. However, Barrenjoey considers it vital that parents and community members understand the vision and goals Barrenjoey has set and importantly, the results in other areas of the school.

Parents are often concerned about the middle years of high school, thinking that their children grow horns and lose all ability to communicate, so with this in mind the improvements in Year 9 results, specifically NAPLAN are worth exploring.

The graph identifies the results that our Year 9 students have received since 2009. Specifically, it has the percentage of results in the top 3 Bands (blue) and the lower 3 bands (red). These columns reflect the school planning phases, I.E 2009-2011, 2012-2014 and the current plan 2015+.

Between the years of 2009 and 2011 our students received 56% of their results in the top three bands and 44% in the lower 3 bands. The state average remains steady at 50%, so previously, Barrenjoey scored 6% above the state line for this measurement. The percentage of results in the top 3 bands has slowly increased to 62% in the current phase, indicating the strength of our literacy and numeracy approach.

The community can expect Barrenjoey to be a comprehensive centre for academic and creative excellence. We continue to challenge ourselves, and it is this attitude that is being fostered, an attitude that will create success across the entire community.

Regardless of whether you look at the results of the HSC or NAPLAN, our back-story remains the same – we are working to support one of our key vision statements:

Barrenjoey aims to provide an individually tailored school experience that is created from consistent processes, innovative strategies and enriched with relevant teaching practices.